Lionesses star Beth England reflects on being ‘wasted’ at Chelsea and says Tottenham move has ‘paid off’
Beth England moved from Chelsea to Tottenham Hotspur during the January transfer window for a domestic record transfer fee in the women’s game.
It is not often a player switches a title-winning side for a relegation battle. Yet, that is exactly what England did, and it is a testament to her mental strength.
After winning the WSL Player of the Season award during Chelsea’s Women’s Super League and League Cup double-winning 2019/20 campaign, few would have predicted that England would leave the club just a couple of years later.
Emma Hayes began to opt for a lone striker with the prolific Sam Kerr continually getting the nod over England, which the forward admitted was a shock to the system.
“I probably overstayed a year and a half too long where I felt like I was just wasted there. It was a very difficult time, but I think I built up a lot of resilience from that and I’ve been able to take that to other scenarios in football,” England admitted during a national team squad media day ahead of the Women’s World Cup, as reported by Football London (28 June).
After seven years, 164 appearances and 74 goals for the Blues, England knew it was time to move on as she searched for a return to regular first-team football. She found that football on the other side of London, where titles weren’t the priority, but survival was.
“At first it was entirely different. I’d say culture shock as well as standard in a way, because [Tottenham] were in a position where they were struggling. I’d never been in a relegation battle before so that was a first for me,” she added,
“And when you’ve got something to lose from it, it’s difficult not to let the emotional side affect you. For us, we were fighting day by day but at Chelsea, you’re so used to being in a position where you’re winning that I’d not been in a position like that in a long time.”
England was now the star player, the one who everyone would look to. After Spurs scored just 11 goals during the first half of the season, with eight of those coming in one match against Brighton, it would take England just 28 minutes of her Spurs debut to find the back of the net.
She was now the leader of a side battling for their lives and that side would eventually go on to survive, scoring 20 goals in the second half of the season, 12 of which came from the record signing herself. Without England, Tottenham would have gone down.
After missing four successive national team camps following her involvement in the historic 2022 Euros-winning side, England has now been called up to represent the country at this year’s World Cup and it is hard to imagine that being the case if not for her Spurs switch.
“I led from the front, I was trying to make things happen a lot more and not having the ball as much as I used to. In a way, it also changed part of my game that has also strengthened other parts of my game,” she said.
“So I’d say the move paid off for me, but ultimately if I’d have stayed where I was, sat on the bench, I wouldn’t be here today.”
In other Tottenham news, another Spurs women forward must follow in England’s steps and make an improvement next season.